Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

Dispersed

when objects in an area are relatively far apart. An example is an area that has houses that are further apart and have larger lots and more land from one house to the next.

Clustered/ Agglomerated*

when objects in an area are close together. Houses built very close together and the houses have smaller lots.

Absolute direction

A compass direction such as north or south are absolute directions. Saying that Canada is North of the US is an example of absolute direction.

Absolute Distance

the exact measurement of the physical space between two places

Relative distance

Often relative distance describes the amount of social, cultural, or economic, connectivity between two places.

Environmental Determinism

belief that the physical environment caused social development. For example, the more temperate climate is the lower death rate and higher health conditions.

Absolute location

The position of place of a certian item on the surface of the Earth as expresed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude, and longitude is known as absolute location. For example, the state capital building in Denver, Colorado is located at 39.42.2 north latitude and 104.59.04 west longitude.

Site*

The physical characteristics of a place. For example, Shanghai is along the south bank of the Yangtze river.

Situation

location of a place relative to other places. Shanghai is near the confluence of the Yangtze river and the East Chin Sea which makes it have high port movement.

Toponym

a name given to a place on Earth. An example of a place name is St. Louis and St. Paul which are cities named after saints showing a religious history.

pattern

geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area

Linear pattern

strait lines and an example is houses along a street.

Possibilism*

the physical environment may limit some human actions but people have the ability to adjust to their environment. An example is the climate of a location which influences human activities, especially food production.

Formal/ Uniform *

an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics such as language or economic activity. Montana is an example because the residents share the same economic activity and language.

Functional/ Nodal*

is an area organized around a node or focal point. An example would be the circulation of newspaper.

Perceptual/ Vernacular*

an area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity. An example would be that the American south which has distinct environmental, cultural, and economic preferences.

Spatial Interaction*

Spatial interaction is when places are connected to each other through a network. With todays technology, we are able to connect to different places around the world to achieve spatial interaction.

Accessibility*

A degree of ease with which it is possible to reach a location.

Connectivity*

the ability to form relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. An example is setting up factories over seas and being able to monitor them and communicate easier due to technology.

Distance Decay*

is when two people are far apart, their contact diminishes and eventually disappears. For example, if a family member moves out of the country, you would see them less often then your family that lives in the same state as you.

Friction of Distance*

the measure of restricting effect of distance on spatial interaction. The greater the distance, the less the interaction or exchange, or the greater the cost of achieving the exchange.

Time- Space compression*

is a term that describes the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place. An example of this is the improvement of transportation from sailing across the Atlantic in the 1400's to modern day airplanes.

Distortion*

the errors made form changing the spherical Earth to a flat paper when drawing a map. ( Size, Shape, Distance and Direction) An example is how the Mercator projection because the size is distorted to the Poles.

GIS *

is a computer system that captures, stores, queries, analysis, and displays geographic data. An example of is how we are able to make our maps by the layering technique using both vectors and rasters.

GPS (Global Positioning System)*

uses satellites to accurately determine the precise position of something on Earth.

North Pole

is 90 degrees North latitude

Latitude*

The numbering system to indicate the location of a parallel An example is the equator found at 0 degrees

Longitude*

the location of each Meridian is identified on Earths surface according to a numbering system. An example is that 0 degrees is the Prime Meridian.

Thematic*

map presents information on a specific topic such as climate, population, transportation, and even water use.

Dot*

A Dot map uses dots to show the presence of a certain feature and it shows spatial patterns. Dot maps are mostly used when vectors provide the information for the GIS layering technique.

Cartogram

is a map in which some thematic mapping variable is substituted for land area.

Choropleth

A thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data is known as a choropleth map. By using color, this map shows how rates of cancer are higher in some areas than other areas.

Isoline

a map's line that connects points of equal or similar values. For example, equal altitudes are used to interoperate information on a thematic map.

Mental Map*

is an internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface. For example, a senior in college is more likely to have a detailed map of campus than a freshman.

Projection*

is the scientific method of transferring location on Earth's surface to a flat map. An example is cylindrical or azimuthal

Remote sensing*

is the acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or other long distance methods. An example is the Google car or a satellite taking pictures.

National Scale of analysis

Shows data for one or more countries

Regional Scale of analysis

Geographic scale that identifies and analyzes geographic phenomena within a particular region such as the data of GDP of Latin America vs. Sub Saharan Africa

Global Scale of analysis

A way to study a phenomenon that is seen or encountered by the entire planet. An example would be Co2 emissions in the atmosphere.

Local Scale of analysis

Geographic scale that identifies and analyzes geographic phenomena within a city or town, or neighborhood

World System Theory (Immanuel Wallerstein)

One world connected by a network of economic exchange relationship// control flows from Core--->Semi-Periphery--->Periphery

Globalization

the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

PETERS PROJECTION (GALL-PETERS)

a cylindrical map projection that attempts to retain the accurate sizes of all the world's landmasses

Mercator Projection

a projection of a map of the world onto a cylinder in such a way that all the parallels of latitude have the same length as the equator, used especially for marine charts . Used because it matches compass bearings. Used by google maps.

Fieldwork

the study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places.

cartographic generalization

simplifying map features in order to construct clearer and less cluttered maps

Reference map

the map displays the boundaries, names and unique identifiers of standard geographic areas, as well as major cultural and physical features

graduated symbol map

this map uses a symbol to represent a certain value. The larger the symbol, the higher the value, and vice versa.

relative space

space that is created and defined by humans (defined by how humans interact with the environment)

absolute

with a quantitative (numerical) measure Ex. north, east, south, west, miles, inches, longitude/latitude

relative

with a qualitative (descriptive) measure that is represented by comparing it to a known geographical feature. Ex. 30 minutes from South, left, right, front, near the Washington Monuement

Elevation

using the level of how high/low something is located on the Earth’s surface

Sinuous

shown in a wavy configuration

random

configured in no specific pattern

Robinson Projection

• compromise map by Arthur Robinson

• shows accurate shapes and sizes of land masses

• commonly used by schools

• distorts poles

Polar projection

• Azimuthal Equidistant map by Guillaume Postel

• not much distortion of continents (size is preserved)

• a superior alternative to Mercator

• used for navigation

• distorts oceans

Equal Area Map Projection

oceans are distorted to minimize the distortion of the continents

Conformal Map Projection

Preserves the shape of features on the map but may greatly distort the size of features.

map projection

a transformation of the latitudes and longitudes of locations of a sphere into locations on a flat surface

Satellite Navigational System

system of satellites that provide geospatial positioning which allows electronic receivers to determine their location with precision

field observation

where you observe people in absolute space and situations

media reports

communication from media companies about different human interactions

travel narratives

written first hand accounts from people visiting a place

policy Documents

official papers that define the rules, guidelines, and regulations of a place

Personal Interview

someone explaining their observations or opinions

Landscape analysis

a study of how the land is being used and of the human environment interactions

Photographic Interpretation

the studying of a photograph

Geospatial Data

• any data with a geographic aspect that refers to a position on the earth (house, building, landmark)

• processed and analyzed by a geographical tool Ex. Remote sensing, GPS, and GIS

Uses of geospatial data

• Businesses: use data in their analysis reporting, and forecasting to exceed competitors through smarter use of their data.

• Governments: use data from the census to draw out congressional and state legislative districts. They also use the data for GIS, GPS, and remote sensing.

Time-Space Compression

the process of when advances in transportation and communication lesson the effect of distance

place

location distinguished by specific physical and social characteristics

absolute space

refers to an area whose dimensions can be precisely measured

sustainability

development that benefits the present generation without compromising natural resources and the environment in future generations

large scale

shows less area in greater detail

small scale

shows larger area in less detail